RingMD signs MOU with Digital India to deliver healthcare to the masses

RingMD, a Singapore based startup with web and mobile-based app that enables patients and medical professionals of their choice to be easily connected for online video consultations, has just signed an MOU with Digital India to reach more patients in rural India.

Digital India is an initiative launched on 1 July 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ensure that government services are made available to citizens electronically by improving online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity. The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed Internet networks for the creation of digital infrastructure, delivering services digitally and improving digital literacy.

As a telemedicine app, RingMD provides clinical health care at a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that is not consistently available for distant rural Indian communities, patients needing chronic medical care, and busy professionals.

“This is a great validation for our platform and we are excited to support Digital India’s ambitious plan,” says Justin Fulcher, CEO and Founder of RingMD. “With this MOU, we will soon connect over 883 million rural Indians to quality and affordable healthcare.”

RingMD has been expanding aggressively around Asia and India is one of its leading growth centres. India is a rapidly developing nation, whose nascent infrastructure cannot keep up with its billion population’s healthcare needs. With only 7 doctors per 10,000 Indians, there just aren’t enough doctors to see all patients, who may have travelled for days to the clinics.

The objective of the MOU is to use RingMD’s cutting edge technology to extend healthcare services to rural areas, where close to 70% of India’s population reside, through the Common Services Centre (SCS)’s initiatives that are run by Village Level Entrepreneurs across India. Many Indians will get access to quality healthcare for the first time through RingMD’s cloud based telemedicine platform that can function in low bandwidth environments.

As Digital India continues to create more access points for rural Indians to get connected to the Internet and CSCs, RingMD will serve as a one-stop medical needs portal. The comprehensive web and mobile app will link patients to a global network of doctors. Besides having electronic consultations, RingMD also provides answers to medical queries.

Once the rural population is connected to the Internet, it is an easy three-step process for patients to connect with doctors.

Select a Doctor and Schedule an Appointment – patients choose a physician by speciality, identify their symptoms and suggest appointment times

Pay securely – the patient pays via credit card, which is processed through a secure payment gateway. For those without electronic payment means, there will also be local options to pay at the service center.

The RingMD app is free to download – available on both IOS and Android though the AppStore and Google Play. Patients can start connecting with their doctors through the web or mobile-based app today.